Infection Control, Sanitation, and Safety Practices
What the exam tests
This domain checks whether you can break the chain of infection in a salon, choose the right level of decontamination for each item, and protect clients and yourself from bloodborne pathogens, burns, slips, and electrical hazards. Kansas rules emphasize clean hands, clean surfaces, and approved disinfectants.
Core rules
- Wash hands with soap and water before and after every service and after glove removal; use hand sanitizer only when hands are not visibly soiled.
- Clean first, then disinfect. Organic matter blocks disinfectant contact.
- Use an EPA-registered hospital-grade disinfectant at the labeled dilution and contact time for nonporous implements such as metal extractors, tweezers, and scissors.
- Porous items-files, cotton, wooden sticks, sponges-are single-use or disposable; they cannot be reliably disinfected.
- Sterilization is reserved for items that penetrate skin or contact blood; estheticians generally use disinfection, not sterilization.
- Launder towels, linens, and capes after each client; keep clean and soiled items separate.
- Keep SDS sheets accessible, label secondary containers, and follow manufacturer directions.
Worked example
An extractor slips and contacts a client’s blood. Stop, put on gloves if not already wearing them, remove the contaminated implement to a labeled biohazard or soak container, clean the area, and disinfect the implement with the approved hospital-grade product for the full contact time. Document the exposure per salon policy. Reasoning: blood is a bloodborne pathogen risk, so cleaning alone is not enough, and the implement must be fully immersed for the labeled time.
Traps
Calling a spray “sanitizer” when the law requires disinfection; skipping the cleaning step; topping off disinfectant instead of mixing fresh; reusing single-use items; and ignoring contact time.